Acceptable number of sick days per year?

[Pomlover2586]

So my friend and I were discussing what is an "acceptable" number of sick days a person could take off a year for being ill. Not paid of course- just an I'm sick day and can't make it into work. At what point are absences excessive and what are realistic?

 

[happygirl]

So my friend and I were discussing what is an "acceptable" number of sick days a person could take off a year for being ill. Not paid of course- just an I'm sick day and can't make it into work. At what point are absences excessive and what are realistic?

It's really hard to say, Does calling for the same sickness count as one sickness?

Is this without or without a Dr nots

 

[si-am]

That's tough. I take about 3-5 usually. Co-workers with kids take a LOT more.

Kind of sucks for me because I have all these sick days saved up but I can't do anything with them unless I lie and call in sick (which I can't bring myself to do). They just keep accumulating.

 

[spacemountainmom]

When you figure it out, let my boss know.

I work at a school. We started the day after labor day and one of my co-workers has called in sick 6 days already. Those of us who have to make up the slack are pretty ticked off.

He also is chronically late. The last time we checked (a few weeks ago) the co-worker had been late or absent 46% of the time since school started. Pretty much anyone else would have been fired by now.....we wonder who he has naked pictures of???

 

[Christine]

I voted 11-12 days is excessive.

I think you have to allow for the fact that everyone *might* just get a flu or severe virus that could mean 5 working days off. The other 5 days would be typical for a minor illness here and there or some doctor's appointments. So after 10 days, I think that gets in to the "excessive" category (unless the person has a known health issue).

 

[disykat]

I didn't vote. I honestly don't think it's a set number. For me, acceptable means you are ACTUALLY sick, not just calling out for other reasons. If someone has cancer, or even a pnuemonia, shingles, a surgery, etc. the number of sick days can be high and should be perfectly "acceptable" in terms of the employer making allowances and reshifting the workload.

Misuse of sick leave, where someone is continually calling out for little random things, is a totally different thing. In general, I don't think it's difficult to tell the difference.

 

[disney1990]

It's hard to abuse sick leave where I work; we only get 4 days a year. After doctor and dentist appointsments, I don't have any days left to actually call in sick.

 

[Pomlover2586]

I also work at a school so I get coughed and sneezed on daily (preschool). Seems like every month I have the sniffles but I rarely call out for them. Realistically I don't think 12 days a year is excessive......that's the equivalent of 1 sick day per month. So many different companies have different ideas of whats OK and whats not......would be nice if there was just a set number nationwide LOL.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

At my work we are allowed 2 sick instances per quarter (if you call in 3 days that would be one instance as long as those 3 days were in a row).

Of course our sick pay is put into the same group as our vacation pay so if we use too much being sick then we have no more left for vacation.

 

[Pakey]

There is no set answer. I think repetitive absences, without a major illness, become excessive. I have one on my staff who calls in every 3 Mondays or so. Always sick on Monday, which is the busiest day in her department. To me, that's excessive.

Then there are people who have serious and legitimate illnesses who miss more time in a year than my Monday absentee person. IMO, those are not excessive.

It's always hard when someone's absence creates an undue burden on the workload of others. However, FMLA allows 16 weeks off in a 12 month period so I never think about the excessiveness of the absences until they get close to meeting the FMLA limit.

 

[tink1969]

The company I work for has told me the average of sick days taken by employees in our company is 3 days.

I took 9 sick days last year. Four of those sick days were to recover from a surgery. So my 'calling in sick' days were 5 for the year and I was spoken to because of it.

I think there should be a national standard. It amazes me what some companies allow for sick days. I know of one that has 12 sick days allowed per year and another has 20.......what's up with that?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We were given 8 sick days a year. The company did pay us for them.
Anything over that was considered excessive and you were talked to by HR.

Once you went over 8 sick days, any others were counted as vacation days.

Folks who were out sick more for whatever reason (themselves, sick kids) often went through all their sick time and even some vacation time. As long as they were good employees, nothing would happen other than the conversation with HR.

Always seemed fair to me.

 

[goofyernmost]

As a past employer all I can say is that we Hate sick days.

We hire people because there is a job to do, not to be gone. It would be OK if we always felt that it was legitimate sick time, but that is not the case anymore. There is no more bogus an excuse, in my opinion, than to say..."I took a mental health day". Buck up and get your butt to work...that will help your mental health a lot.

Non-paid sick time is fluffed off as not costing anyone anything, however, lost productivity is an expensive process for companies. Yea, you didn't get paid a wage but that doesn't mean it wasn't costing us something. Oh, and by the way...it will indeed cost you a job promotion or any chance of a significant raise if your absenteeism becomes excessive. Also, we are not stupid. If you call in on a Tuesday sounding like death warmed over and then bounce in on Wednesday healthier than an Olympic athlete we are going to be suspicious.

Sick days are not planned for and scheduled. They happen last minute and create a great many problems for both management and your fellow workers. If it is real and you really are sick then don't hesitate, if you just want the day off. Sorry, you are in the process of earning a living...try actually earning it.

I worked for 45 years and the most per year sick days I ever took was 3. Most of the time it was zero.

 

[okeydokey]

We get one month, so 12 a year. I have quite a balance built up.

My friend was out for a few weeks following a mastectomy, so I know sometimes you do need the whole balance.

I might take two or three a year, plus another two maybe to take care of sick kids.

 

[onelilspark]

I'm in agreement with others, it depends on what's going in on that person's life. I get chronic migraines and probably take off for them about 3 days a year...but I've learned to work through them. I always feel lame calling off work for a headache, but when it gets bad enough that I actually need to call off, I probably can't see straight. We get 17 days off, which is sick, vacation, whatever (PTO.) I still have 2 days left until the end of the year, then they'll roll over.

The nice thing is that I work from home half the time (the other half I'm on the road visiting clients) so if I have a cold, I can still work and hack away, I won't infect anyone

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

At my work we are allowed 2 sick instances per quarter (if you call in 3 days that would be one instance as long as those 3 days were in a row).

Of course our sick pay is put into the same group as our vacation pay so if we use too much being sick then we have no more left for vacation.

Thats how it is where I work too. But ours is 2 a year.

After 3 days we need a doctors excuse. If we have more than 2 instances we get a verbal warning after 3 a written then dismissal.

And yes I work in the health industry.

 

[sunshine1178]

I struggle with this, personally. I have two small kids, and when they have a fever, etc., they can't go to school or daycare until they are 24 hours symptom free. I don't have any family or friends to watch them, so my husband I usually take turns watching them, or a half day each. Even so, it adds up quickly.

My bosses have been exceptionally understanding, and my pay stub only shows two sick days for the year, although I'm guessing it was closer to ten. I do make an effort to work from home as best I can, maintaining communication with clients, researching projects, etc.

We do have a couple of employees who are absent quite a lot, and there is a lot of discussion about them when they are out. It certainly hampers their chances of advancing, because they are never assigned to large/important projects, as we can't count on their being available at crunch time.

I think that in my company, short of a surgery/major illness, three sick days a year is the acceptable number. But, children's illnesses don't seem to count against that number. (Although, I am the only one with small children who doesn't have a stay-at-home partner, so I am primarily the only one who calls in sick for kids.)

 

[crashbb]

We get 10 a year (paid).

If you have more than 5 in a row, you need a doctor's note (but then it because short disability and doesn't count against your 10). This is also paid for up to 17 weeks (after which it is long term disability). For everyone, the first 3 weeks are 100% salary (depending on how long you've been with the company, the length of 100% salary increases until it covers all 17 weeks) and the rest is 70%.

If you've used up your 10, you need a doctor's note for any other sick day (even a single one).

I'm not sure when HR would get involved in "excessive" sick days.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

One is excessive if you are not really sick.

My dh was out over a month and had to take short term disability when a surgery went badly wrong. That was not excessive. (And his work was beyond cooperative and concerned.)

 

[Ember]

I struggle with this, personally. I have two small kids, and when they have a fever, etc., they can't go to school or daycare until they are 24 hours symptom free. I don't have any family or friends to watch them, so my husband I usually take turns watching them, or a half day each. Even so, it adds up quickly.

My bosses have been exceptionally understanding, and my pay stub only shows two sick days for the year, although I'm guessing it was closer to ten. I do make an effort to work from home as best I can, maintaining communication with clients, researching projects, etc.

We do have a couple of employees who are absent quite a lot, and there is a lot of discussion about them when they are out. It certainly hampers their chances of advancing, because they are never assigned to large/important projects, as we can't count on their being available at crunch time.

I think that in my company, short of a surgery/major illness, three sick days a year is the acceptable number. But, children's illnesses don't seem to count against that number. (Although, I am the only one with small children who doesn't have a stay-at-home partner, so I am primarily the only one who calls in sick for kids.)

It seems odd that someone would be punished career-wise for something like migraines and needing time off, but not for sick children and needing time off.

Don't misunderstand, I think it's great that your company is understanding about your children. But as a childfree individual, this unfairness of this gets under my skin a little. I've been in situations where it was even more unbalanced in favor of families. When I requested a few days off to be with my DH when he had surgery and would need care I was denied.

I do think companies should be working with parents to achieve a home/work balance. But it should extend to all employees, not just parents.